Gian Carlo Minardi: "Formula 1 needs facts"

Formula 1 is probably experiencing one of its most difficult moments, dealing with the economic crisis, the decline of the audience and the inexorable increase of costs.

Every day we read proposals to try to reduce costs, with important alarms from most of the teams who complain about the difficulty in closing budgets. “I believe Formula 1 is going through a period of great confusion. The economic side is dangerously affecting all choices and decisions looking at the future”, Gian Carlo Minardi says at the website minardi.it. “Excluding three or four teams, all the others are in big troubles. How to solve this situation is not straightforward. The technical decisions taken have certainly worsened the situation”.

The latest proposal to reduce costs would be to remove again the season tests, reducing also the pre-season days. “What is needed is to gather around a table and find practical and intelligent solutions. Not palliative treatments. Formula 1 needs to be redrawn, from sporting to technical rules, bringing the show back and the Circus closer to the fans. I don’t think that the right way to reduce costs is the elimination of road tests”.

The rising of costs and the global crisis, with a corresponding drop in the number of Sponsors, has led to an increase in debts, reaching mind-boggling amounts for some Teams. “Facing certain debts, I don’t think it’s still possible to maintain a starting grid worthy of the highest expression of worldwide motorsport: the continuation of this lack of interest of the public could cause a loss of more revenues, deriving from television rights. Therefore new rules are urgently needed, in my opinion mainly sporting rules able to bring radical changes. Formula 1 has to question openly the problems that undermine the system and find serious solutions, not just small variations such as a reduction of tests, third car for customers, and so on”, the manager from Faenza says.